Globally relevant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Globally relevant - Essay Example Delineating Social Media from Social Networking Since this paper will be dealing with social networking, it is best to distinguish ‘social media’ from ‘social networks’. Scrutinizing the technical definition of each may be confusing but to keep it on a layman’s level and to understand more of these two concepts, it is best to describe social media as a platform where social networking is only part of the former while the latter is described to require more of self-revelation of one’s personal information (e.g. Facebook and Twitter). â€Å"Social media encompasses applications in different categories by characteristic: collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and other virtual social worlds† ( Kaplan and Haenlein 59). The above is further supported by Moller as he defines â€Å"Social Media as the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive di alogue. They can be defined as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of the so-called Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. It takes many different forms, including online magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, microblogs, wikis, podcasts, images, video, rating, social bookmarking or social networking† ( 13). Emergence of Hyperconnectivity Now, looking back around 1950’s, man realized how much he was limited to get access to information and communication. Connectivity then was only through the use of walkie-talkie radios, a wired telephone and wireless telegraphy which were only capable to serve a one-on-one exchange of communications. During the old days when there was a need to harness the public for an assembly to institute a major change, the common traditional practice was to ring huge tower church bells, or any symbolic gong, or use a loud siren heard throughout the c ommunity. Gone are the days of these practices. With this age of computers , the trend was to promote a wireless and paperless society as well as timeliness in the exchange of information, Above all, the launching of Digitization have greatly modernized world’s business, propelled the integration of information and communications technologies to the point of changing society’s lifestyles. Dramatically, there was a 360 degree turn-about change in society, government business, commerce, social behaviors and individual psyches from the time that machines began interfacing and intervening with man’s activities. The overnight success of digitization has revolutionized everything. â€Å"Digitization is the conversion of information format (whether, text, image, audio or video file) to digital format. This feature made it easier for any information in this form be preserved, accessed and shared. Instead of people going to a specific location to retrieve an original, h istorical document, the document when digitized can now be made available to people around the world† (Janssen 2013). This new feature brought about multiplier effects that â€Å"led to the advent of a new era called hyperconnectivity† (Janssen 2013). Hyperconnectivity can only be served when the

Segmentation and Targeting Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Segmentation and Targeting - Term Paper Example A Rolex customer is a person that is accustomed to buying luxury items. A lot of Rolex watches have target market of people that are millionaires (Rolexforums, 2011). (2) How does the choice of target market influence the company's pricing and promotion (from what you know so far)? The target market of Timex of targeting people of all ages is achieved by the firm’s pricing strategy of selling watches at the low end of the market. Most Timex watches are sold at a price point between $25 and $50. Timex utilizes various promotional strategies to increase the sales of the firm. Some of the stunts include the use of customized watches for incentive awards, sales incentives, corporate promotions, business gifts, safety programs, and recognition awards (Timex, 2011). The retailer that sell Timex watches on many occasions sell the watches on special since the target customer of Timex watches are price sensitive. The demand of products that are priced low goes up by further decreasing the price of the product. The Rolex uses different promotional strategies to attract customers. The use of celebrities sponsoring the product can help increase the appeal of the product. Rolex watches are sold at jewelry stores and in luxury department stores. There is a lot of competition in the luxury watch marketplace and many online vendors offer attractive discounts off the retail price to persuade people to buy Rolex products. For instance Melrose Jewelers is currently offering the Presidential Rolex at $9,825 (Melrose Jewelers, 2011). This price is 36% below retail price. (3) Now imagine one of the companies you chose wants to introduce a new target market. For instance, suppose Hilton or Four Seasons wanted to offer a budget option for the target market sought by Motel 6. How would this strategy affect consumer perceptions? Rolex could introduce a cheap version of its watches to attract the younger demographic between the ages of 18-25 years of age. The new product could att ract a lot of new customers and the sales of that product might be excellent. The problem with that strategy is that it can dilute the brand name of the company. The wealthy people that are accustomed to the prestige of owning a Rolex will not be very happy with the masses buying cheap Rolexes sold at hundreds of dollar a piece instead of thousands. The company could lose a lot of customers that are enabling the firm to make a nice profit margin from each unit sold. The second scenario involves Timex introducing an expensive model to target a different segment. A good way to achieve such a strategy is by including implicit value in the construction of the watch such building the watch with some or all its parts in gold. I think adding a line of luxury watches would be beneficial for the company. (4) Do you think these customers will be influenced by changes in the economy? Why or why not? Timex is better suited to accept negative changes in the economy than Rolex. Timex sells a chea p product. During bad economic times people look for bargains. Many users of mid level brands might switch to cheap brands such as Timex to serve their watch needs. During good economic times the Timex brand will do better, but the firm might lose a portion of its recurrent customers who might switch to more expensive brands because they can afford them now. The low price point of Timex makes the watch an excellent gift and during good economic times people are more generous. A Rolex is a luxury item. Luxury items do not have good sales during bad economic